Preparing dinner to the liking of everyone in the family is always a difficult feat to accomplish. Tastes tend to vary, one person’s favorite dish does not necessarily find favor with the others. Women in the family also have the additional responsibility of ensuring that the food served for the family doubles up as a balanced diet. Also, serving food cooked the usual way over and over again makes home cooked food insipid. Variety is indeed needed. In such a scenario, it is the cookbooks that come to the rescue. This becomes all the more special when the books happen to be from the most celebrated chefs around. These can help you take your culinary skills quite a few notches up. Here’s a look at them.
1. Ellie Krieger’s So Easy
The host who brings to you the show Healthy Appetite on the Food Network but naturally advocates recipes high both on taste and nutrition in her book for family meals. No meal has been left untouched, be it the breakfast, lunch or the dinner. Packed breakfast and lunch from home need not be boring anymore, all thanks to this book. The book focuses on recipes that are nutritious on account of moderation in the use of ingredients and offers nutritional information alongside.
2. Laurie David’s The Family Dinner
This book with 75 recipes is a tome that seeks to take its readers towards a healthier lifestyle. It guides people on the factors to consider for purchase of organic ingredients and gives a lowdown on gardening and composting. It also meanders towards the social significance of family dinners. The book advocates some lifestyle changes such as a weekday without a meat dish for health reasons as well as environmental factors.
3. America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
When a popular TV show on cooking documents the recipes to give its viewers a ready reckoner, you expect these to epitomize excellence. The 800 recipes in the book do live up to the tag. Reinvented American classics with a low fat content are a highlight of the book. The book comes replete with nutrition information and tips for buying cooking appliances.
4. Mark Peel’s New Classic Family Dinners
This one is a collection of recipes that are literally a class apart. The little tweaks in recipes of American classics appeal to the taste buds of even the epicures. The book is bound to be good with it being a collection of 200 recipes that have worked their magic as Monday night specials at the popular Campanile restaurant in Los Angeles.
5. Family Dinners by Giada
With this cookbook, you can bid goodbye to the troubles of working on the menu for a get-together at home. The recipes with an Italian touch cater to the most personal family celebrations as well as to the occasions to rejoice with others. As the recipes come from the popular TV show host and writer Giada, the trust factor is immense.
6. Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners
This one is meant to bring some innovation to your dining table. The vegetarians can look forward to rustle up great dishes with the help of this book. A lot of egg dishes too feature in it. Be it the appetizers or the main course dish, easy innovation is the hallmark of this book.